What would your reaction be if you found out that someone close to you actually likes you? That someone is your junior who appears innocent but in truth, he is a wolf in sheep's clothing stalking its prey and you are the prey?
Ji Yao had never understood emotions before because he wasn't exposed to anyone's touch apart from his father. So when Rui Fei came in touch with him he didn't know the meaning of the word boundary.
He let Rui Fei touch him however he pleased and he also touched Rui Fei a lot that his father had to mention boundaries.
But it was rather too late. Trying to put back toothpaste into the tube was simply impossible. Since the day they met, they had cuddled unintentionally or accidentally on purpose which Ji Yao was trying to amend by keeping some distance from him.
The thin paper window between friendship and lovers had a huge irreparable hole on it that no matter how much glue he uses it would never close up. How Rui Fei started liking him he wasn't too sure. It all made sense now like puzzle pieces coming together.
Thinking back there was one time Rui Fei ate a sweet cake for him just to get him out of that tricky situation despite being allergic to sweet things. Did he already like him then? He always brought him food and tied himself to Ji Yao's hip.
That day at the hot spring was it shyness or he just couldn't handle being in his vicinity with a naked top half?
Even the recent bite mark incident Rui Fei's ambiguous words saying, "Will it take away the scar?" now made sense. He even ran into his cabin earlier thinking his secret had been exposed by his uncle. This was the secret he was keeping. A lot of these questions raced in his mind but he couldn't answer them. Only Rui Fei could clarify the situation.
Recalling Rui Fei's words that night, "You can only flip my jade tile," his heart jolted. This jade tile was the reason why he now knew Rui Fei's secret.
With his mind racing like a speed train, his actions were still so nimble. He dodged the centipede's tail sweeping in his direction and bumped into Rui Fei who was rushing over to block him from the same tail.
Ji Yao advanced as his sword swept past the centipede's hard skin. "What? Are you here to rescue me?" asked Ji Yao with a straight face. Rui Fei could barely see Ji Yao's face through the veil but he felt that probing gaze. Somehow he felt something was different with Ji Yao after his chit chat with Lady Ching Sei.
His gaze swept towards the woman who was surrounded by vicious ribbons that struck like angry vipers at the centipede. She had definitely said something to Ji Yao otherwise why would he be looking at him like that or maybe it was because of the way he was looking at Ji Yao earlier.
"Just having your back," said Rui Fei trying to shake off the feeling that something was off.
The fast-paced movements of the centipede raised a cloud of dust obscuring everyone's vision. This was its strategy, blinding the enemy which clearly indicated its level of intelligence. It was outnumbered by these people ten times smaller than itself and blinding them was the best strategy.
With the group blinded by the cloud of dust confusion would arise but not today. It thought it was dealing with the confused weaklings it was used to. It was hunted by a dozen of those scavengers but when they realised they were useless against its might they became the hunted.
So when it saw this group of people it came in to hunt as it was used to hunting scavengers. The only problem was that it thought it was going to get a free meal but these people weren't so easy to deal with. It had assumed it would eating aethers and flesh providing it with sustenance but it got the short end of the stick.
With a flick of Rui Fei's wrist, the dust had dispersed. The giant centipede that had failed at its own game felt frustrated shrieking in a high pitched sound that had people covering their ears. The sound was especially deafening shaking the ground.
Everyone rushed to cover their ears but the one who got the worst of it was Xiaoyu who had extremely sensitive ears. She threw herself into Rui Fei not entirely on purpose. She was in excruciating pain and jumped over to the nearest person begging for help.
Rui Fei was at a loss of words staring at her blankly for a second. His hands had automatically held her just in case she fell. He wanted to push her away but seeing the tear stain on her face he hesitated. Unfortunately, Ji Yao witnessed everything and felt a little sour.
The two were a perfect match which brought Ji Yao to the question of why Rui Fei was interested in him. He wasn't pretty or soft neither was he cute. Xiaoyu was the perfect match with a gorgeous face that seemed to never do anything for him.
Why didn't Rui Fei flip her jade tile? Or maybe it was just a phase. Rui Fei would eventually get over him. All these thoughts ran rampant in his head as he slay the creature venting out the sour feeling choking his throat.
Ji Yao was like a toy running on a pair of Duracell batteries wreaking havoc on the centipede. Even the centipede was asking itself what it did to offend this ancestor. Rui Fei gently shoved Xiaoyu to someone else before joining Ji Yao in slaughtering this beast. He had something to prove to his beloved but Ji Yao seemed off.
The way he was going at the centipede you would think it killed his mother. The two of them were so absorbed in their own thing that they didn't realise Ji Yao had engaged his aether and his seraphic energy was at its peak but Rui Fei didn't go crazy.
He was a little tense but it was overshadowed by the power of the Huishe seraphic energy coursing in his veins. That's when he noticed a pattern. The closer he got to Ji Yao the furthest he moved away from him. One look at him and you could tell he was pissed.
But Rui Fei had no time to inquire as the centipede reached an all-time low and decided to make a break for it.
It turned out Ji Yao was a little too much to handle so it burrowed into the sand intending to run away. Ji Yao wasn't going to let that happen. Barking order he cracked his whip-like sword wrapping it around his tail.
He pulled it back with the flames searing its tail. Following his orders, the concord members and Rui siblings went all out giving the beast all they got. Rui Fei delt the final blow snapping its head off with his fog like seraphic energy. The centipede released a last cry of agony before collapsing to the ground.
As its body slammed to the ground the entire port shook with the vibration reaching as far as the mountains causing a rock slide. In a mountain cave, a cup filled with red wine vibrated with the shaking of the earth heading towards the edge.
Just before it slipped off the armrest an arm reached out and took it. A man dressed in all black stood up from the seat his face a little distorted. He drank the entire glass in one go before pointing at a corner with his ring finger. His ring had the symbol of a Qilin and based on its appearance it was worn out.
"As always it tastes like shit," he said pouring it out from a crystal bottle that looked out of this world. "And it doesn't do a good job either," he continued before carrying the cup filled to the brim towards the direction he was pointing at before.
He approached a red curtain in slow strides as he said, "Those two beasts were nothing compared to you... wait until they see you Hahaha." He reached out into his clothes and took out a pendant with a keystone shimmering under the sunlight seeping in through the gaps in the wall.
An ominous smile showed on his face as he continued to speak. "I had everything and she had absolutely nothing," gently spinning the keystone in his hand, "She had freedom. She didn't have to be burdened with that vile man's incessant strict teachings yet she was older than me!"
The man gulped down the entire cup again before smashing it on the wall his eyes as red as sapphire. His chest heaving like a raging bull he started smashing and kicking everything only stopping when the thing behind the curtain showed signs that it was waking up.
He strode over in a haste and stopped abruptly in front of the curtain with his finger on his lips. "Shh shh shh... it's not time to wake up yet.. I still have a lot of cards on the table," pointing at a table with actual cards scattered all over.